The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“House of Representatives” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Daily Digest section on pages D1168-D1172 on Nov. 3, 2015.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
House of Representatives
Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 39 public bills, H.R. 3879-
3917; and 3 resolutions, H. Res. 510-511, and 513, were introduced.
Pages H7622-24
Additional Cosponsors:
Pages H7625-26
Report Filed: A report was filed today as follows:
H. Res. 512, providing for further consideration of the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 22) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt employees with health coverage under TRICARE or the Veterans Administration from being taken into account for purposes of determining the employers to which the employer mandate applies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H. Rept. 114-326).
Page H7622
Speaker: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein he appointed Representative Kelly to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.
Page H7393
Recess: The House recessed at 10:47 a.m. and reconvened at 12 noon.
Page H7398
Suspension--Proceedings Resumed: The House agreed to suspend the rules and pass the following measure which was debated on Monday, November 2nd:
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the safety and security of Jewish communities in Europe: H. Res. 354, amended, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the safety and security of Jewish communities in Europe, by a \2/3\ yea-and-nay vote of 418 yeas with none voting ``nay'', Roll No. 585.
Page H7412
Hire More Heroes Act of 2015: The House began consideration of the Senate amendments to H.R. 22, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt employees with health coverage under TRICARE or the Veterans Administration from being taken into account for purposes of determining the employers to which the employer mandate applies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Consideration is expected to resume tomorrow, November 4th.
Pages H7412-H7621
Pursuant to the Rule, the amendment printed in part A of H. Rept. 114-325 is adopted and the Senate amendment, as amended, shall be considered as read. Further, the amendment consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 114-32 shall be considered as pending, shall be considered as read, shall not be debatable, and shall not be subject to amendment except those printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325.
Pages H7418, H7517
Agreed to:
Shuster amendment (No. 1 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that makes technical and conforming changes to Rules Committee Print 114-32;
Page H7579
Walden amendment (No. 3 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that clarifies that projects within National Scenic Areas, and projects to increase capacity of highway segments to improve mobility, and are eligible for federal funding under Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects;
Pages H7580-81
Babin amendment (No. 6 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that designates the Central Texas Corridor as the future Interstate Route I-
14;
Page H7582
Massie amendment (No. 7 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that allows the GSA to construct, install, and operate electric car charging stations on federal properties for use by employees; the construction, installation, and operation will be funded solely through user fees, so taxpayers will incur no cost;
Pages H7582-84
Fleischmann amendment (No. 8 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that reports language encouraging the use of geosynthetic materials and other innovative technologies;
Page H7584
Gibbs amendment (No. 9 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that requires the Secretary of Transportation to study the methods State's use to procure culvert and storm sewer materials, and report their findings to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee;
Pages H7584-85
Gibson amendment (No. 10 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that directs the Secretary of Transportation to develop a comprehensive strategy, within 1 year, to address ``structurally deficient'' and
``functionally obsolete'' bridges, as defined by the National Bridge Inventory, and to identify the unique challenges and policy solutions with regards to these respective categories;
Page H7585
Hanna amendment (No. 12 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that adds a Sense of Congress that the engineering industry provides critical technical expertise, innovation, and local expertise to federal and state agencies to efficiently deliver surface transportation projects and urges the Secretary to reinforce these partnerships;
Page H7586
DeSaulnier amendment (No. 16 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to study methods of inventorying roadside highway safety hardware devices (i.e. guardrails) for the purpose of improving in-service evaluation of these devices;
Page H7592
Scott (VA) amendment (No. 17 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that includes a sense of Congress that the Department of Transportation should utilize modeling and simulation technology to analyze federally funded highway and public transit projects to ensure that these projects will increase transportation capacity and safety, alleviate congestion, reduce travel time and environmental impact, and are as cost effective as practicable;
Pages H7592-93
Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX) amendment (No. 18 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that strikes the Department of Transportation's authority to redistribute unallocated TIFIA funds;
Page H7593
Sewell (AL) amendment (No. 20 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that seeks a public safety report to be provided to the House and Senate Transportation Committees on the security of locations intended to encourage public use of alternative transportation as well as personal transportation such as carpool parking lots, mass transit parking; local, state, and regional rail station parking, college or university parking, bike paths or walking trails and other locations the Secretary deems would be appropriate;
Pages H7594-95
Sewell (AL) amendment (No. 21 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that provides a report on the Internet of Things (IoT) and its potential to improve transportation services to the elderly and persons with disabilities as well as assist local, state and federal transportation planners in achieving better inefficiencies and cost effectiveness, while protecting privacy and security of persons who use IoT technology;
Pages H7595-97
Kirkpatrick amendment (No. 23 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that increases safety by allowing additional states that have passed distracted driving legislation to qualify for incentive grant funding;
Pages H7597-98
Duncan (TN) amendment (No. 26 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that requires the Department of Transportation to conduct a study on the safety of operations of a double-decker motorcoach equipped with a luggage carrier at the rear of the vehicle;
Page H7599
Comstock amendment (No. 27 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that clarifies the restrictions placed on institutions applying for UTC grants, and broadens the paragraph on Focused Research for regional UTCs; directs the Secretary of Transportation to develop a 5-Year Transportation R&D Strategic Plan for FY 18 through FY 22; authorizes the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology to conduct a traffic congestion study; authorizes the Assistant Secretary to submit a rail safety study to Congress;
Pages H7599-H7601
Barletta amendment (No. 28 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that requires all legacy tank cars retrofit for continued Class 3 Flammable Liquid service to include enhanced top fittings protections for pressure relief valves;
Pages H7601-02
Lynch amendment (No. 29 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that provides for an additional, independent safety review of an approved pipeline route or segment of route, should a state or tribal government deem it necessary;
Pages H7602-03
Costello amendment (No. 33 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that allows otherwise eligible Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects, which do not meet the minimum $100,000,000 threshold, to qualify for the specific reserved amount as provided in the legislation for such projects that fail to reach that threshold;
Page H7606
Edwards amendment (No. 35 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that seeks to improve highway designs to better manage storm water by moving up in the planning process from the end so that thought goes into how best to plan design, and construct project effectively while also reducing costs;
Pages H7607-08
Calvert amendment (No. 36 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that increases the limit on 10 local governments with whom the State can exercise its authority to eliminate duplicative reviews to 25;
Page H7608
Brown (FL) amendment (No. 15 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that creates a National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism Infrastructure which will advise the Secretary of Transportation on infrastructure needs related to the use of the nation's intermodal transportation network to facilitate travel and tourism (by a recorded vote of 216 ayes to 207 noes, Roll No. 589);
Pages H7610-11
Farenthold amendment (No. 38 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that allows for only certain trucks with current weight exemptions to be allowed to continue riding at those higher weight exemptions once certain segments of Texas State Highways are converted into Interstate 69;
Page H7615
Beyer amendment (No. 42 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that removes a federal preemption and restore the full right to regulate towing to states and localities;
Pages H7618-19
DelBene amendment (No. 44 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that requires a report on the Frontline Workforce Development Program for each fiscal year; the report would include an evaluation of the program and policy recommendations to improve program effectiveness; and
Pages H7619-20
Napolitano amendment (No. 45 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that changes the degradation standard of an HOV lane from maintaining an average operating speed above 45 mph over a consecutive 180 day period during peak hours from 90 percent of the time to 50 percent of the time.
Pages H7620-21
Rejected:
Guinta amendment (No. 11 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study to understand the purchasing power of a federal highway dollar and quantifying the things that weaken it, such as labor and environmental regulations and other inefficiencies that cause delays and drive up the cost of projects;
Pages H7585-86
Mullin amendment (No. 13 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to allow bridge work to be done despite the presence of swallows if the bridge has a condition rating of 3 or less until a rulemaking has occurred, requires notification to the Secretary of Interior, and directs the Sec. of Interior to promulgate a rulemaking to allow for bridge work under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA);
Pages H7586-87
Welch amendment (No. 19 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to strike Section 3010 of division A, which would lower the current federal share of bicycle facility projects from 95 and 90 percent to 80 percent;
Pages H7593-94
Blumenauer amendment (No. 22 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to increase the number of states eligible for funding through the nonmotorized National Priority Safety Program, and double the funding for that program;
Page H7597
Swalwell (CA) amendment (No. 2 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to expand the eligibility of the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program to include innovative shared use mobility projects that can reduce congestion and improve air quality; expand associated transit improvements to include those shared-use projects that directly enhance transit (by a recorded vote of 181 ayes to 237 noes, Roll No. 586);
Pages H7608-09
Gosar amendment (No. 5 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to require the federal government to track the total number, cost, and time required for each environmental review of transportation projects when reporting the status of these projects to the public (by a recorded vote of 196 ayes to 225 noes, Roll No. 587);
Pages H7609-10
Ribble amendment (No. 14 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to give states the option of increasing the truck weight limits on their Interstate Highways from 80,000 pounds to 91,000 pounds if the trucks are equipped with an additional sixth axle; would not impact existing exemptions already enacted under the law (by a recorded vote of 187 ayes to 236 noes, Roll No. 588);
Page H7610
Lynch amendment (No. 29 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to provide for an additional, independent safety review of an approved pipeline route or segment of route, should a state or tribal government deem it necessary (by a recorded vote of 160 ayes to 263 noes, Roll No. 590);
Pages H7611-12
Takano amendment (No. 31 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to allow for a program of eligible projects to count as a single project to meet the $100,000,000 threshold of project costs (by a recorded vote of 174 ayes to 248 noes, Roll No. 591);
Page H7612
Brownley (CA) amendment (No. 32 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-
325) that sought to increase the freight program small project set aside from 10 percent to 20 percent (by a recorded vote of 160 ayes to 263 noes, Roll No. 592); and
Pages H7612-13
Radewagen amendment (No. 34 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that sought to require the secretary to allocate program funds made available to the territories according to quantifiable measures that are indicative of the surface transportation requirements of each of the territories (by a recorded vote of 113 ayes to 310 noes, Roll No. 593).
Pages H7613-14
Withdrawn:
Rice (NY) amendment (No. 24 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that was offered and subsequently withdrawn that would have required states to strengthen graduated driver's licensing requirements to be eligible for State Graduated Driver Licensing Incentive Grants;
Pages H7598-99
Lewis amendment (No. 30 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that was offered and subsequently withdrawn that would have struck Section 339(b) of the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 and make construction of Type II noise barriers eligible for funds from the surface transportation block grant programs; and
Pages H7603-04
Mica amendment (No. 43 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that was offered and subsequently withdrawn that would have required that a state may not prohibit the operation of an automobile transporter with a gross weight of 84,000 pounds or less on any segment of the Interstate System or qualified Federal aid primary highways designated by the Secretary; allow the chief executive officer of a State, after consultation with units of local government, to request an exemption from the Secretary if it is determined that an interstate segment is not capable of safely accommodating such commercial motor vehicles.
Pages H7619-20
Proceedings Postponed:
Hartzler amendment (No. 37 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325), as modified, that seeks to repeal the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to approve as part of the construction of federal-aid highways the costs of landscape and roadside development;
Pages H7614-15
Rooney (FL) amendment (No. 39 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that seeks to provide that a state may allow, by special permit, the operation of vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of up to 95,000 pounds for the hauling of livestock; the cost of a special permit may not exceed $200 per year for a livestock trailer;
Pages H7615-16
Rothfus amendment (No. 40 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that seeks to exempt projects to reconstruct any road, highway, railway, bridge, or transit facility that is damaged by an emergency declared by the Governor of the State and concurred in by the Secretary of Homeland Security from any environmental reviews, approvals, licensing, and permit restrictions if reconstruction takes place in the same location and using the same design, capacity, and dimensions as before the emergency; and
Pages H7616-17
DeSaulnier amendment (No. 41 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that seeks to establish a peer review group and a comprehensive risk management plan to prevent cost overruns and project delays for transportation mega projects exceeding $2,500,000,000.
Pages H7617-18
H. Res. 507, amended, the rule providing for consideration of the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 22) was agreed to by a yea-and-nay vote of 248 yeas to 171 nays, Roll No. 584, after the previous question was ordered by a yea-and-nay vote of 241 yeas to 178 nays, Roll No. 583.
Pages H7410-12
Recess: The House recessed at 8:20 p.m. and reconvened at 11:23 p.m.
Page H7621
Quorum Calls--Votes: Three yea-and-nay votes and eight recorded votes developed during the proceedings of today and appear on pages H7410-11, H7411-12, H7412, H7608-09, H7609-10, H7610, H7610-11, H7611-12, H7612, H7612-13, and H7613-14. There were no quorum calls.
Adjournment: The House met at 10 a.m. and adjourned at 11:24 p.m.
